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PROLOGUE

My daddy always used to say, you could never run out of second chances

Even if you think the road is too hard to travel, even if you feel lost in the darkest night, there’s always a way through the storht of

People fail all the time, it’s e’re made to do We all have moments of fear and weakness, we all stumble on the rocks of bitter jealousy There’s not a soul in the world who hasn’t been brought low at some point What matters is what you do when you hit the bottom

Because love doesn’t always last the first tih life unscarred and unbroken If you never pull yourself back up again, and find the strength to try again, you’ll never find that one true soul who loves you not despite those wounds and jagged edges, but because of them

I was only a kid back then, I didn’t understand My father’s second chances didn’t last forever They ran out, the summer I turned thirteen It wasn’t until years later that his words beca to hold on to when I felt too lost to ever dreaain

He knew ine He knew there was a future for me that would make the pain a distant memory

Because in the end, the ive yourself

1

RYLAND

I’m three hands into a round of Texas Hold’em when the dealer turns the last card and I realize: it’s over Not just the gaas This whole dirty chapter in le card down, but I know

I’m done

“What’s it gonna be, boys?” My boss, Driskell, leans back in his chair so far you’d think he’s about to rest his black cowboy boots right on the poker table He gives that farin, the one that spells trouble for anyone on the other end “Who’s got the balls for this one?”

I can see the split-second decisions beingfor, there’s already seventy-five grand on the table, stacked in plastic chips The high rollers lounge at the Bellagio doesn’t come cheap, and Driskell always likes to put on a show

I tap s show I’uys are ner suits and expensive Rolex watches, while I’m in jeans and a dusty pair of boots My job is on the door, or the exit, wherever Driskell tellssure one of hisAnd with his line of work, they always try Last otiation in Tampa

He’s still breathing through a respirator

But one of the players ducked out early tonight, and Driskell toldat“You sure you don’t wanna fold, kid?” He thron another stack of chips, another ten grand at least “You can walk right now, no harm, no foul I’ll just add it to your tab”

My tab

He makes it sound like a couple of beers, but it’s the reason I’ for aas his personal enforcer, and I’ the debt I owe

It orth it It’ll always be worth it, but still, I feel a clench of anger when he rubs it in like this

I shrug, taking a gulp of beer “I’ood”

Driskell snorts He thinks I’ They all do And why not? They run this town, every dark, seedy corner, and me, I’m just some punk kid, here to crack heads and keep the peace

One by one, the players around hs

“Screw your wife What aboutdown his cards But n

Until the door opens and she walks in

I don’t knohy she catches irls are all over the Strip, wearing heels her and dresses way shorter than hers But as she carefully weaves her way past the table towards the bar, I can’t help staring A petite body poured into a si free There’s sorace as she slides up on a barstool and gazes curiously out around the room

I can’t look away

Our eyes , but I don’t blink Instead, I drink her in, , a way of keeping track You never knohen you’ll need to recall so that could save your life

But tonight, it’s not danger that hasThis is all on her Dark eyes, set in a suarded In a room full of wo too loud, shrieking too brightly, she stands out just by virtue of her stillness Her quiet

“Alright, kid, you’re up,” Driskell announces, pulling ame

Damn I try and shake off the moment across the roo distracted, thinking about soirl?

“Tiin’,” someone whistles